Executives across various industries shared their perspectives on mergers and acquisitions and growth in 2017 and their outlook for 2018 in a survey conducted by Capstone Strategic, a leading M&A advisory firm for the middle market. The survey was conducted in December 2017 and followed previous annual surveys of the middle market.
The survey indicates M&A activity picked up in 2017 and will continue growing in 2018. Those who observed higher M&A activity grew from 31% in 2016 to 38% in 2017.
Looking forward, more executives are 100% certain they will pursue deals in 2018 (22%) than in 2017 (17%). The top driver for pursuing M&A in 2018 is to increase share of existing markets (65%).
In general, executives are optimistic about growth. A higher percentage saw an improving environment for growth in 2017 than in 2016 (48% compared to 35%).
Time and attention demanded by the process remains the top barrier to leveraging M&A as a tool for growth (35%).
“As anticipated in last year’s State of Middle Market M&A report, there was renewed interest in pursuing M&A in 2017,” said David Braun, CEO of Capstone Strategic. “The survey shows that middle market companies are ready to do deals in 2018. Combine this appetite with the new tax bill and the shifting demographics of aging small business owners and we will see an uptick in mergers and acquisitions over the next 24 months.”
The full survey, State of Middle Market M&A 2018, can be viewed by clicking here.